Plant recombination proteins

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an isolated nucleic acid fragment encoding a recombination protein. The invention also relates to the construction of a chimeric gene encoding all or a substantial portion or the recombination protein, in sense or antisense orientation, wherein expression of the chimeric gene results in production of altered levels of the recombination protein in a transformed host cell.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/133,438, filed May 11, 1999.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of plant molecular biology. Morespecifically, this invention pertains to nucleic acid fragments encodingrecombination proteins in plants and seeds.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Transgenic plant product development by conventional transformation andbreeding efforts is a slow and unpredictable process. Gene targetingsystems can overcome problems with expression variability, unpredictableimpacts of random gene insertion on agronomic performance, and the largenumber of experiments that need to be conducted. Such systems can alsoprovide approaches to manipulating endogenous genes. Of course,targeting system requires the ability to focus the recombination processto favor recovery of desired targeting events.

Recombination is the process by which DNA molecules are broken andrejoined, giving rise to new combinations. It is a key biologicalmechanism in mediating genetic diversity and DNA repair. Much researchhas focused on describing the process, since it is an integralbiological phenomenon and as such, forms the basis of a number ofpractical applications ranging from molecular cloning to introduction oftransgenes.

The natural cellular DNA repair and recombination machinery consists ofa complex array of protein components interacting in a highly controlledmanner to ensure that the fidelity of the genome is conserved throughoutthe many internal events or external stimuli experienced during eachcell cycle. The ability to manipulate this machinery requires anunderstanding of how specific proteins are involved in the process, andhow the genes that encode those proteins are regulated. Since theprimary approaches to gene targeting involve recombinases, whetheroperating in their natural in vivo environment (as during normalrecombination) or as part of schemes that involve pretreatment ofsubstrates-so as to associate DNA with a recombinase and increase theefficiency of targeting (e.g. double D-loop), there is a continuing needto isolate and characterize the genes for these molecules. Because manydifferent protein components may be involved in gene targeting, theavailability of host-specific genes and proteins could aid in avoidingpossible problems of incompatibility associated with molecularinteractions due to heterologous components.

A number of proteins involved in recombination have been isolated andthe corresponding genes have been cloned, including RecA of E coli, akey player in the recombination process. RecA catalyzes the pairing upof a DNA double helix and a homologous region of single-stranded DNA,and so initiates the exchange of strands between two recombining DNAmolecules. It exhibits DNA-dependent ATPase activity, binding DNA moretightly when it has ATP bound than when it has ADP bound. RecA genehomologues in other organisms have been isolated, including RAD51 fromhuman, mouse, corn, and yeast (Shinohara, A. et al., (1993) Nat. Genet.4:239-243; PCT published Patent Application No. WO 99/41394-A1), andDMC1 from yeast, lily, and Arabidopsis (Klimyuk, V. I. and Jones, J. D.,(1997) Plant J. 11:1-14). In fission yeast, a number of meioticrecombination genes have been identified by genetic complementation,including rec6 and rec12 (Lin, Y. and Smith, G. R., (1994) Genetics136:769-779).

Sequences for the bacterial RecA recombinase and functional homologsfrom yeast and several animal species have been disclosed in variouspublicly accessible sequence databases. Numerous publicationscharacterizing these recombinases exist (see, e.g., Kowalczykowski etal., Annu. Rev. Biochem., 63:991-1043 (1994)). Reports of the use ofbacterial RecA in association with DNA sequences to manipulatehomologous target DNA, including improvement of the efficiency of genetargeting in non-plant systems, have been published (see, e.g., PCTpublished Patent Application Nos. WO 87/01730 and WO 93/22443).

The catalysis of in vitro pairing and strand exchange between circularviral single strand DNA (“ss DNA”) and linear duplex DNA (“ds DNA”) by aRAD51 recombinase from S. cerevisiae has also been reported (see, e.g.,Sung, Science, 265:1241-43 (1994); Kanaar, et al., Nature 391:335-338(1998); Benson, et al., Nature 391:401-410 (1998)). To date, work withrecombinase enzymes in plants, however, has been very limited.Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for the identification andcharacterization of the functional activities of recombinase enzymeswhich may offer improved and expanded methods for use in plant systems,particularly agriculturally important crop species.

Obtaining targeted knockouts of endogenous genes through introduction ofhomologous strands of DNA is a feat which has been achieved in mammaliancells several years ago. It is however an enormous challenge in plants,which is indicative of a lack of sufficient knowledge about homologousrecombination in plant cells. Isolation and characterization of plantgenes involved in recombination may help in overcoming the presentobstacles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns an isolated polynucleotide comprising anucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) a firstnucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide of at least 50 amino acidshaving at least 80% identity based on the Clustal method of alignmentwhen compared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:6; (b) a second nucleotidesequence encoding a polypeptide of at least 100 amino acids having atleast 80% identity based on the Clustal method of alignment whencompared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2; (c) a third nucleotidesequence encoding a polypeptide of at least 250 amino acids having atleast 95% identity based on the Clustal method of alignment whencompared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:4; (d) a fourth nucleotidesequence encoding a polypeptide of at least 340 amino acids having atleast 95% identity based on the Clustal method of alignment whencompared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:8; and (e) a fifth nucleotidesequence comprising the complement of (a), (b), (c) or (d).

In a second embodiment, it is preferred that the isolated polynucleotideof the claimed invention comprises a first nucleotide sequence whichcomprises a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting ofSEQ ID NOs:1, 3, 5, and 7 that codes for the polypeptide selected fromthe group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:2, 4, 6, and 8.

In a third embodiment, this invention concerns an isolatedpolynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence of at least one of 60(preferably at least one of 40, most preferably at least one of 30)contiguous nucleotides derived from a nucleotide sequence selected fromthe group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:1, 3, 5, and 7 and the complement ofsuch nucleotide sequences.

In a fourth embodiment, this invention relates to a chimeric genecomprising an isolated polynucleotide of the present invention operablylinked to at least one suitable regulatory sequence.

In a fifth embodiment, the present invention concerns a host cellcomprising a chimeric gene of the present invention or an isolatedpolynucleotide of the present invention. The host cell may beeukaryotic, such as a yeast or a plant cell, or prokaryotic, such as abacterial cell. The present invention also relates to a virus,preferably a baculovirus, comprising an isolated polynucleotide of thepresent invention or a chimeric gene of the present invention.

In a sixth embodiment, the invention also relates to a process forproducing a host cell comprising a chimeric gene of the presentinvention or an isolated polynucleotide of the present invention, theprocess comprising either transforming or transfecting a compatible hostcell with a chimeric gene or isolated polynucleotide of the presentinvention.

In a seventh embodiment, the invention concerns a polypeptide selectedfrom the group consisting of: (a) a polypeptide of at least 50 aminoacids having at least 80% identity based on the Clustal method ofalignment when compared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:6; (b) apolypeptide of at least 100 amino acids having at least 80% identitybased on the Clustal method of alignment when compared to a polypeptideof SEQ ID NO:2; (c) a polypeptide of at least 250 amino acids having atleast 95% identity based on the Clustal method of alignment whencompared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:4; and (d) a polypeptide of atleast 340 amino acids having at least 95% identity based on the Clustalmethod of alignment when compared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:8.

In an eighth embodiment, the invention relates to a method of selectingan isolated polynucleotide that affects the level of expression of aRAD51 polypeptide or enzyme activity in a host cell, preferably a plantcell, the method comprising the steps of: (a) constructing an isolatedpolynucleotide of the present invention or a chimeric gene of thepresent invention; (b) introducing the isolated polynucleotide or thechimeric gene into a host cell; (c) measuring the level of the RAD51polypeptide or enzyme activity in the host cell containing the isolatedpolynucleotide; and (d) comparing the level of the RAD51 polypeptide orenzyme activity in the host cell containing the isolated polynucleotidewith the level of the RAD51 polypeptide or enzyme activity in the hostcell that does not contain the isolated polynucleotide.

In a ninth embodiment, the invention concerns a method of obtaining anucleic acid fragment encoding a substantial portion of a RAD51polypeptide, preferably a plant RAD51 polypeptide, comprising the stepsof: synthesizing an oligonucleotide primer comprising a nucleotidesequence of at least one of 60 (preferably at least one of 40, mostpreferably at least one of 30) contiguous nucleotides derived from anucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:1,3, 5, and 7, and the complement of such nucleotide sequences; andamplifying a nucleic acid fragment (preferably a cDNA inserted in acloning vector) using the oligonucleotide primer. The amplified nucleicacid fragment preferably will encode a substantial portion of a RAD51protein amino acid sequence.

In a tenth embodiment, this invention relates to a method of obtaining anucleic acid fragment encoding all or a substantial portion of the aminoacid sequence encoding a RAD51 polypeptide comprising the steps of:probing a cDNA or genomic library with an isolated polynucleotide of thepresent invention; identifying a DNA clone that hybridizes with anisolated polynucleotide of the present invention; isolating theidentified DNA clone; and sequencing the cDNA or genomic fragment thatcomprises the isolated DNA clone.

In an eleventh embodiment, this invention concerns a composition, suchas a hybridization mixture, comprising an isolated polynucleotide or anisolated polypeptide of the present invention.

In a twelfth embodiment, this invention concerns a method for positiveselection of a transformed cell comprising: (a) transforming a host cellwith the chimeric gene of the present invention or a construct of thepresent invention; and (b) growing the transformed host cell, preferablya plant cell, such as a monocot or a dicot, under conditions which allowexpression of the RAD51 protein polynucleotide in an amount sufficientto complement a null mutant to provide a positive selection means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING AND SEQUENCE LISTING

The invention can be more fully understood from the following detaileddescription, the accompanying drawing, and the Sequence Listing whichform a part of this application.

FIGS. 1A-1B depict the amino acid sequence alignment between the RAD51proteins encoded by the nucleotide sequences derived from soybean clonessm.pk0068.g1 (SEQ ID NO:4), and wheat clone wkm1c.pk0003.b8 (SEQ IDNO:8), the Arabidopsis thaliana RAD51 sequence (NCBI GenBank Identifier(GI) No. 1706947; SEQ ID NO:9) and the Zea mays RAD51A sequence (NCBIGenBank Identifier (GI) No. 4886752; SEQ ID NO:10). Amino acids whichare conserved among all and at least two sequences with an amino acid atthat position are indicated with an asterisk (*). Dashes are used by theprogram to maximize alignment of the sequences.

Table 1 lists the polypeptides that are described herein, thedesignation of the cDNA clones that comprise the nucleic acid fragmentsencoding polypeptides representing all or a substantial portion of thesepolypeptides, and the corresponding identifier (SEQ ID NO:) as used inthe attached Sequence Listing. Table 1 also identifies the cDNA clonesas individual ESTs (“EST”), the sequences of the entire cDNA insertscomprising the indicated cDNA clones (“FIS”), contigs assembled from twoor more ESTs (“Contig”), contigs assembled from an FIS and one or moreESTs (“Contig*”), or sequences encoding at a minimum the mature proteinderived from an EST, FIS, a contig, or an FIS and PCR (“CGS”).Nucleotide SEQ ID NOs:1 and 5 correspond to nucleotide SEQ ID NOs:3 and5, respectively, presented in U.S. Provisional Application No.60/133,438, filed May 11, 1999. Amino acid SEQ ID NOs:2 and 6 correspondto amino acid SEQ ID NOs:4 and 6, respectively, presented in U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/133,438, filed May 11, 1999. The sequencedescriptions and Sequence Listing attached hereto comply with the rulesgoverning nucleotide and/or amino acid sequence disclosures in patentapplications as set forth in 37 C.F.R §1.821-1.825.

TABLE 1 Recombination Proteins Protein SEQ ID NO: (Plant (Amino Source)Clone Designation Status (Nucleotide) Acid) RAD51 ssm.pk0068.g1 EST 1 2(Soybean) RAD51 ssm.pk0068.g1(FIS) CGS 3 4 (Soybean) RAD51wkm1c.pk0003.b8 EST 5 6 (Wheat) RAD51 wkm1c.pk0003.b8(FIS) CGS 7 8(Wheat)

The Sequence Listing contains the one letter code for nucleotidesequence characters and the three letter codes for amino acids asdefined in conformity with the IUPAC-IUBMB standards described inNucleic Acids Res. 13:3021-3030 (1985) and in the Biochemical J. 219(No. 2):345-373 (1984) which are herein incorporated by reference. Thesymbols and format used for nucleotide and amino acid sequence datacomply with the rules set forth in 37 C.F.R. §1.822.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the context of this disclosure, a number of terms shall be utilized.The terms “polynucleotide”, “polynucleotide sequence”, “nucleic acidsequence”, and “nucleic acid fragment”/“isolated nucleic acid fragment”are used interchangeably herein. These terms encompass nucleotidesequences and the like. A polynucleotide may be a polymer of RNA or DNAthat is single- or double-stranded, that optionally contains synthetic,non-natural or altered nucleotide bases. A polynucleotide in the form ofa polymer of DNA may be comprised of one or more segments of cDNA,genomic DNA, synthetic DNA, or mixtures thereof. An isolatedpolynucleotide of the present invention may include at least one of 60contiguous nucleotides, preferably at least one of 40 contiguousnucleotides, most preferably one of at least 30 contiguous nucleotidesderived from SEQ ID NOs:1, 3, 5, and 7, or the complement of suchsequences.

The term “isolated polynucleotide” refers to a polynucleotide that issubstantially free from other nucleic acid sequences, such as and notlimited to other chromosomal and extrachromosomal DNA and RNA. Isolatedpolynucleotides may be purified from a host cell in which they naturallyoccur. Conventional nucleic acid purification methods known to skilledartisans may be used to obtain isolated polynucleotides. The term alsoembraces recombinant polynucleotides and chemically synthesizedpolynucleotides.

The term “recombinant” means, for example, that a nucleic acid sequenceis made by an artificial combination of two otherwise separated segmentsof sequence, e.g., by chemical synthesis or by the manipulation ofisolated nucleic acids by genetic engineering techniques.

As used herein, “contig” refers to a nucleotide sequence that isassembled from two or more constituent nucleotide sequences that sharecommon or overlapping regions of sequence homology. For example, thenucleotide sequences of two or more nucleic acid fragments can becompared and aligned in order to identify common or overlappingsequences. Where common or overlapping sequences exist between two ormore nucleic acid fragments, the sequences (and thus their correspondingnucleic acid fragments) can be assembled into a single contiguousnucleotide sequence.

As used herein, “substantially similar” refers to nucleic acid fragmentswherein changes in one or more nucleotide bases results in substitutionof one or more amino acids, but do not affect the functional propertiesof the polypeptide encoded by the nucleotide sequence. “Substantiallysimilar” also refers to nucleic acid fragments wherein changes in one ormore nucleotide bases does not affect the ability of the nucleic acidfragment to mediate alteration of gene expression by gene silencingthrough for example antisense or co-suppression technology.“Substantially similar” also refers to modifications of the nucleic acidfragments of the instant invention such as deletion or insertion of oneor more nucleotides that do not substantially affect the functionalproperties of the resulting transcript vis-à-vis the ability to mediategene silencing or alteration of the functional properties of theresulting protein molecule. It is therefore understood that theinvention encompasses more than the specific exemplary nucleotide oramino acid sequences and includes functional equivalents thereof. Theterms “substantially similar” and “corresponding substantially” are usedinterchangeably herein.

Substantially similar nucleic acid fragments may be selected byscreening nucleic acid fragments representing subfragments ormodifications of the nucleic acid fragments of the instant invention,wherein one or more nucleotides are substituted, deleted and/orinserted, for their ability to affect the level of the polypeptideencoded by the unmodified nucleic acid fragment in a plant or plantcell. For example, a substantially similar nucleic acid fragmentrepresenting at least one of 30 contiguous nucleotides derived from theinstant nucleic acid fragment can be constructed and introduced into aplant or plant cell. The level of the polypeptide encoded by theunmodified nucleic acid fragment present in a plant or plant cellexposed to the substantially similar nucleic fragment can then becompared to the level of the polypeptide in a plant or plant cell thatis not exposed to the substantially similar nucleic acid fragment.

For example, it is well known in the art that antisense suppression andco-suppression of gene expression may be accomplished using nucleic acidfragments representing less than the entire coding region of a gene, andby using nucleic acid fragments that do not share 100% sequence identitywith the gene to be suppressed. Moreover, alterations in a nucleic acidfragment which result in the production of a chemically equivalent aminoacid at a given site, but do not effect the functional properties of theencoded polypeptide, are well known in the art. Thus, a codon for theamino acid alanine, a hydrophobic amino acid, may be substituted by acodon encoding another less hydrophobic residue, such as glycine, or amore hydrophobic residue, such as valine, leucine, or isoleucine.Similarly, changes which result in substitution of one negativelycharged residue for another, such as aspartic acid for glutamic acid, orone positively charged residue for another, such as lysine for arginine,can also be expected to produce a functionally equivalent product.Nucleotide changes which result in alteration of the N-terminal andC-terminal portions of the polypeptide molecule would also not beexpected to alter the activity of the polypeptide. Each of the proposedmodifications is well within the routine skill in the art, as isdetermination of retention of biological activity of the encodedproducts. Consequently, an isolated polynucleotide comprising anucleotide sequence of at least one of 60 (preferably at least one of40, most preferably at least one of 30) contiguous nucleotides derivedfrom a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ IDNOs:1, 3, 5, and 7, and the complement of such nucleotide sequences maybe used in methods of selecting an isolated polynucleotide that affectsthe expression of a RAD51 polypeptide in a host cell. A method ofselecting an isolated polynucleotide that affects the level ofexpression of a polypeptide in a virus or in a host cell (eukaryotic,such as plant or yeast, prokaryotic such as bacterial) may comprise thesteps of: constructing an isolated polynucleotide of the presentinvention or a chimeric gene of the present invention; introducing theisolated polynucleotide or the chimeric gene into a host cell; measuringthe level of a polypeptide or enzyme activity in the host cellcontaining the isolated polynucleotide; and comparing the level of apolypeptide or enzyme activity in the host cell containing the isolatedpolynucleotide with the level of a polypeptide or enzyme activity in ahost cell that does not contain the isolated polynucleotide.

Moreover, substantially similar nucleic acid fragments may also becharacterized by their ability to hybridize. Estimates of such homologyare provided by either DNA-DNA or DNA-RNA hybridization under conditionsof stringency as is well understood by those skilled in the art (Hamesand Higgins, Eds. (1985) Nucleic Acid Hybridisation, IRL Press, Oxford,U.K.). Stringency conditions can be adjusted to screen for moderatelysimilar fragments, such as homologous sequences from distantly relatedorganisms, to highly similar fragments, such as genes that duplicatefunctional enzymes from closely related organisms. Post-hybridizationwashes determine stringency conditions. One set of preferred conditionsuses a series of washes starting with 6×SSC, 0.5% SDS at roomtemperature for 15 min, then repeated with 2×SSC, 0.5% SDS at 45° C. for30 min. and then repeated twice with 0.2×SSC, 0.5% SDS at 50° C. for 30min. A more preferred set of stringent conditions uses highertemperatures in which the washes are identical to those above except forthe temperature of the final two 30 min washes in 0.2×SSC, 0.5% SDS wasincreased to 60° C. Another preferred set of highly stringent conditionsuses two final washes in 0.1×SSC, 0.1% SDS at 65° C.

Substantially similar nucleic acid fragments of the instant inventionmay also be characterized by the percent identity of the amino acidsequences that they encode to the amino acid sequences disclosed herein,as determined by algorithms commonly employed by those skilled in thisart. Suitable nucleic acid fragments (isolated polynucleotides of thepresent invention) encode polypeptides that are at least about 70%identical, preferably at least about 80% identical to the amino acidsequences reported herein. Preferred nucleic acid fragments encode aminoacid sequences that are about 85% identical to the amino acid sequencesreported herein. More preferred nucleic acid fragments encode amino acidsequences that are at least about 90% identical to the amino acidsequences reported herein. Most preferred are nucleic acid fragmentsthat encode amino acid sequences that are at least about 95% identicalto the amino acid sequences reported herein. Suitable nucleic acidfragments not only have the above identities but typically encode apolypeptide having at least 50 amino acids, preferably at least 100amino acids, more preferably at least 150 amino acids, still morepreferably at least 200 amino acids, and most preferably at least 250 or340 amino acids. Sequence alignments and percent identity calculationswere performed using the Megalign program of the LASERGENEbioinformatics computing suite (DNASTAR Inc., Madison, Wis.). Multiplealignment of the sequences was performed using the Clustal method ofalignment (Higgins and Sharp (1989) CABIOS. 5:151-153) with the defaultparameters (GAP PENALTY=10, GAP LENGTH PENALTY=10). Default parametersfor pairwise alignments using the Clustal method were KTUPLE 1, GAPPENALTY=3, WTNDOW=5 and DIAGONALS SAVED=5.

A “substantial portion” of an amino acid or nucleotide sequencecomprises an amino acid or a nucleotide sequence that is sufficient toafford putative identification of the protein or gene that the aminoacid or nucleotide sequence comprises. Amino acid and nucleotidesequences can be evaluated either manually by one skilled in the art, orby using computer-based sequence comparison and identification toolsthat employ algorithms such as BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool;Altschul et al. (1993) J. Mol. Biol. 215:403-410. In general, a sequenceof ten or more contiguous amino acids or thirty or more contiguousnucleotides is necessary in order to putatively identify a polypeptideor nucleic acid sequence as homologous to a known protein or gene.Moreover, with respect to nucleotide sequences, gene-specificoligonucleotide probes comprising 30 or more contiguous nucleotides maybe used in sequence-dependent methods of gene identification (e.g.,Southern hybridization) and isolation (e.g., in situ hybridization ofbacterial colonies or bacteriophage plaques). In addition, shortoligonucleotides of 12 or more nucleotides may be used as amplificationprimers in PCR in order to obtain a particular nucleic acid fragmentcomprising the primers. Accordingly, a “substantial portion” of anucleotide sequence comprises a nucleotide sequence that will affordspecific identification and/or isolation of a nucleic acid fragmentcomprising the sequence. The instant specification teaches amino acidand nucleotide sequences encoding polypeptides that comprise one or moreparticular plant proteins. The skilled artisan, having the benefit ofthe sequences as reported herein, may now use all or a substantialportion of the disclosed sequences for purposes known to those skilledin this art. Accordingly, the instant invention comprises the completesequences as reported in the accompanying Sequence Listing, as well assubstantial portions of those sequences as defined above.

“Codon degeneracy” refers to divergence in the genetic code permittingvariation of the nucleotide sequence without effecting the amino acidsequence of an encoded polypeptide. Accordingly, the instant inventionrelates to any nucleic acid fragment comprising a nucleotide sequencethat encodes all or a substantial portion of the amino acid sequencesset forth herein. The skilled artisan is well aware of the “codon-bias”exhibited by a specific host cell in usage of nucleotide codons tospecify a given amino acid. Therefore, when synthesizing a nucleic acidfragment for improved expression in a host cell, it is desirable todesign the nucleic acid fragment such that its frequency of codon usageapproaches the frequency of preferred codon usage of the host cell.

“Synthetic nucleic acid fragments” can be assembled from oligonucleotidebuilding blocks that are chemically synthesized using procedures knownto those skilled in the art. These building blocks are ligated andannealed to form larger nucleic acid fragments which may then beenzymatically assembled to construct the entire desired nucleic acidfragment. “Chemically synthesized”, as related to a nucleic acidfragment, means that the component nucleotides were assembled in vitro.Manual chemical synthesis of nucleic acid fragments may be accomplishedusing well established procedures, or automated chemical synthesis canbe performed using one of a number of commercially available machines.Accordingly, the nucleic acid fragments can be tailored for optimal geneexpression based on optimization of the nucleotide sequence to reflectthe codon bias of the host cell. The skilled artisan appreciates thelikelihood of successful gene expression if codon usage is biasedtowards those codons favored by the host. Determination of preferredcodons can be based on a survey of genes derived from the host cellwhere sequence information is available.

“Gene” refers to a nucleic acid fragment that expresses a specificprotein, including regulatory sequences preceding (5′ non-codingsequences) and following (3′ non-coding sequences) the coding sequence.“Native gene” refers to a gene as found in nature with its ownregulatory sequences. “Chimeric gene” refers any gene that is not anative gene, comprising regulatory and coding sequences that are notfound together in nature. Accordingly, a chimeric gene may compriseregulatory sequences and coding sequences that are derived fromdifferent sources, or regulatory sequences and coding sequences derivedfrom the same source, but arranged in a manner different than that foundin nature. “Endogenous gene” refers to a native gene in its naturallocation in the genome of an organism. A “foreign gene” refers to a genenot normally found in the host organism, but that is introduced into thehost organism by gene transfer. Foreign genes can comprise native genesinserted into a non-native organism, or chimeric genes. A “transgene” isa gene that has been introduced into the genome by a transformationprocedure.

“Coding sequence” refers to a nucleotide sequence that codes for aspecific amino acid sequence. “Regulatory sequences” refer to nucleotidesequences located upstream (5′ non-coding sequences), within, ordownstream (3′ non-coding sequences) of a coding sequence, and whichinfluence the transcription, RNA processing or stability, or translationof the associated coding sequence. Regulatory sequences may includepromoters, translation leader sequences, introns, and polyadenylationrecognition sequences.

“Promoter” refers to a nucleotide sequence capable of controlling theexpression of a coding sequence or functional RNA. In general, a codingsequence is located 3′ to a promoter sequence. The promoter sequenceconsists of proximal and more distal upstream elements, the latterelements often referred to as enhancers. Accordingly, an “enhancer” is anucleotide sequence which can stimulate promoter activity and may be aninnate element of the promoter or a heterologous element inserted toenhance the level or tissue-specificity of a promoter. Promoters may bederived in their entirety from a native gene, or may be composed ofdifferent elements derived from different promoters found in nature, ormay even comprise synthetic nucleotide segments. It is understood bythose skilled in the art that different promoters may direct theexpression of a gene in different tissues or cell types, or at differentstages of development, or in response to different environmentalconditions. Promoters which cause a nucleic acid fragment to beexpressed in most cell types at most times are commonly referred to as“constitutive promoters”. New promoters of various types useful in plantcells are constantly being discovered; numerous examples may be found inthe compilation by Okamuro and Goldberg (1989) Biochemistry of Plants15:1-82. It is further recognized that since in most cases the exactboundaries of regulatory sequences have not been completely defined,nucleic acid fragments of different lengths may have identical promoteractivity.

“Translation leader sequence” refers to a nucleotide sequence locatedbetween the promoter sequence of a gene and the coding sequence. Thetranslation leader sequence is present in the fully processed mRNAupstream of the translation start sequence. The translation leadersequence may affect processing of the primary transcript to mRNA, mRNAstability or translation efficiency. Examples of translation leadersequences have been described (Turner and Foster (1995) Mol. Biotechnol.3:225-236).

“3′ Non-coding sequences” refers to nucleotide sequences locateddownstream of a coding sequence and includes polyadenylation recognitionsequences and other sequences encoding regulatory signals capable ofaffecting mRNA processing or gene expression. The polyadenylation signalis usually characterized by affecting the addition of polyadenylic acidtracts to the 3′ end of the mRNA precursor. The use of different 3′non-coding sequences is exemplified by Ingelbrecht et al. (1989) PlantCell 1:671-680.

“RNA transcript” refers to the product resulting from RNApolymerase-catalyzed transcription of a DNA sequence. When the RNAtranscript is a perfect complementary copy of the DNA sequence, it isreferred to as the primary transcript or it may be a RNA sequencederived from posttranscriptional processing of the primary transcriptand is referred to as the mature RNA. “Messenger RNA (mRNA)” refers tothe RNA that is without introns and that can be translated intopolypeptides by the cell. “cDNA” refers to DNA that is complementary toand derived from an mRNA template. The cDNA can be single-stranded orconverted to double stranded form using, for example, the Klenowfragment of DNA polymerase I. “Sense RNA” refers to an RNA transcriptthat includes the mRNA and can be translated into a polypeptide by thecell. “Antisense RNA” refers to an RNA transcript that is complementaryto all or part of a target primary transcript or mRNA and that blocksthe expression of a target gene (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,065,incorporated herein by reference). The complementarity of an antisenseRNA may be with any part of the specific nucleotide sequence, i.e., atthe 5′ non-coding sequence, 3′ non-coding sequence, introns, or thecoding sequence. “Functional RNA” refers to sense RNA, antisense RNA,ribozyme RNA, or other RNA that may not be translated but yet has aneffect on cellular processes.

The term “operably linked” refers to the association of two or morenucleic acid fragments so that the function of one is affected by theother. For example, a promoter is operably linked with a coding sequencewhen it is capable of affecting the expression of that coding sequence(i.e., that the coding sequence is under the transcriptional control ofthe promoter). Coding sequences can be operably linked to regulatorysequences in sense or antisense orientation.

The term “expression”, as used herein, refers to the transcription andstable accumulation of sense (mRNA) or antisense RNA derived from thenucleic acid fragment of the invention. “Expression” may also refer totranslation of mRNA into a polypeptide. “Antisense inhibition” refers tothe production of antisense RNA transcripts capable of suppressing theexpression of the target protein. “Overexpression” refers to theproduction of a gene product in transgenic organisms that exceeds levelsof production in normal or non-transformed organisms. “Underexpression”refers to the production of a gene product in transgenic organisms atlevels below that of levels of production in normal or non-transformedorganisms. “Co-suppression” refers to the production of sense RNAtranscripts capable of suppressing the expression of identical orsubstantially similar foreign or endogenous genes (U.S. Pat. No.5,231,020, incorporated herein by reference).

A “protein” or “polypeptide” is a chain of amino acids arranged in aspecific order determined by the coding sequence in a polynucleotideencoding the polypeptide. Each protein or polypeptide has a uniquefunction.

“Altered levels” or “altered expression” refers to the production ofgene product(s) in transgenic organisms in amounts or proportions thatdiffer from that of normal or non-transformed organisms.

“Null mutant” refers to a host cell which either lacks the expression ofa certain polypeptide or expresses a polypeptide which is inactive ordoes not have any detectable expected enzymatic function.

“Mature protein” refers to a post-translationally processed polypeptide;i.e., one from which any pre- or propeptides present in the primarytranslation product have been removed. “Precursor protein” refers to theprimary product of translation of mRNA; i.e., with pre- and propeptidesstill present Pre- and propeptides may be but are not limited tointracellular localization signals.

A “chloroplast transit peptide” is an amino acid sequence which istranslated in conjunction with a protein and directs the protein to thechloroplast or other plastid types present in the cell in which theprotein is made. “Chloroplast transit sequence” refers to a nucleotidesequence that encodes a chloroplast transit peptide. A “signal peptide”is an amino acid sequence which is translated in conjunction with aprotein and directs the protein to the secretory system (Chrispeels(1991) Ann. Rev. Plant Phys. Plant Mol. Biol. 42:21-53). If the proteinis to be directed to a vacuole, a vacuolar targeting signal (supra) canfurther be added, or if to the endoplasmic reticulum, an endoplasmicreticulum retention signal (supra) may be added. If the protein is to bedirected to the nucleus, any signal peptide present should be removedand instead a nuclear localization signal included (Raikhel (1992) PlantPhys. 100:1627-1632).

“Transformation” refers to the transfer of a nucleic acid fragment intothe genome of a host organism, resulting in genetically stableinheritance. Host organisms containing the transformed nucleic acidfragments are referred to as “transgenic” organisms. Examples of methodsof plant transformation include Agrobacterium-mediated transformation(De Blaere et al. (1987) Meth. Enzymol. 143:277) andparticle-accelerated or “gene gun” transformation technology (Klein etal. (1987) Nature (London) 327:70-73; U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,050,incorporated herein by reference). Thus, isolated polynucleotides of thepresent invention can be incorporated into recombinant constructs,typically DNA constructs, capable of introduction into and replicationin a host cell. Such a construct can be a vector that includes areplication system and sequences that are capable of transcription andtranslation of a polypeptide-encoding sequence in a given host cell. Anumber of vectors suitable for stable transfection of plant cells or forthe establishment of transgenic plants have been described in, e.g.,Pouwels et al., Cloning Vectors: A Laboratory Manual, 1985, supp. 1987;Weissbach and Weissbach, Methods for Plant Molecular Biology, AcademicPress, 1989; and Flevin et al., Plant Molecular Biology Manual, KluwerAcademic Publishers, 1990. Typically, plant expression vectors include,for example, one or more cloned plant genes under the transcriptionalcontrol of 5′ and 3′ regulatory sequences and a dominant selectablemarker. Such plant expression vectors also can contain a promoterregulatory region (e.g., a regulatory region controlling inducible orconstitutive, environmentally- or developmentally-regulated, or cell- ortissue-specific expression), a transcription initiation start site, aribosome binding site, an RNA processing signal, a transcriptiontermination site, and/or a polyadenylation signal.

Standard recombinant DNA and molecular cloning techniques used hereinare well known in the art and are described more fully in Sambrook etal., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual; Cold Spring HarborLaboratory Press: Cold Spring Harbor, 1989 (hereinafter “Maniatis”).

“PCR” or “polymerase chain reaction” is a technique used for theamplification of specific DNA segments (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,683,195 and4,800,159).

The present invention concerns an isolated polynucleotide comprising anucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) a firstnucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide of at least 50 amino acidshaving at least 80% identity based on the Clustal method of alignmentwhen compared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:6; (b) a second nucleotidesequence encoding a polypeptide of at least 100 amino acids having atleast 80% identity based on the Clustal method of alignment whencompared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2; (c) a third nucleotidesequence encoding a polypeptide of at least 250 amino acids having atleast 95% identity based on the Clustal method of alignment whencompared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:4; (d) a fourth nucleotidesequence encoding a polypeptide of at least 340 amino acids having atleast 95% identity based on the Clustal method of alignment whencompared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:8; and (e) a fifth nucleotidesequence comprising the complement of (a), (b), (c) or (d).

Preferably, the first nucleotide sequence comprises a nucleic acidsequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:1, 3, 5, and7, that codes for the polypeptide selected from the group consisting ofSEQ ID NOs:2, 4, 6, and 8.

Nucleic acid fragments encoding at least a substantial portion ofseveral recombination proteins have been isolated and identified bycomparison of random plant cDNA sequences to public databases containingnucleotide and protein sequences using the BLAST algorithms well knownto those skilled in the art. The nucleic acid fragments of the instantinvention may be used to isolate cDNAs and genes encoding homologousproteins from the same or other plant species. Isolation of homologousgenes using sequence-dependent protocols is well known in the art.Examples of sequence-dependent protocols include, but are not limitedto, methods of nucleic acid hybridization, and methods of DNA and RNAamplification as exemplified by various uses of nucleic acidamplification technologies (e.g., polymerase chain reaction, ligasechain reaction).

For example, genes encoding other RAD51 proteins, either as cDNAs orgenomic DNAs, could be isolated directly by using all or a substantialportion of the instant nucleic acid fragments as DNA hybridizationprobes to screen libraries from any desired plant employing methodologywell known to those skilled in the art. Specific oligonucleotide probesbased upon the instant nucleic acid sequences can be designed andsynthesized by methods known in the art (Maniatis). Moreover, the entiresequence(s) can be used directly to synthesize DNA probes by methodsknown to the skilled artisan such as random primer DNA labeling, nicktranslation, end-labeling techniques, or RNA probes using available invitro transcription systems. In addition, specific primers can bedesigned and used to amplify a part or all of the instant sequences. Theresulting amplification products can be labeled directly duringamplification reactions or labeled after amplification reactions, andused as probes to isolate full length cDNA or genomic fragments underconditions of appropriate stringency.

In addition, two short segments of the instant nucleic acid fragmentsmay be used in polymerase chain reaction protocols to amplify longernucleic acid fragments encoding homologous genes from DNA or RNA. Thepolymerase chain reaction may also be performed on a library of clonednucleic acid fragments wherein the sequence of one primer is derivedfrom the instant nucleic acid fragments, and the sequence of the otherprimer takes advantage of the presence of the polyadenylic acid tractsto the 3′ end of the rRNA precursor encoding plant genes. Alternatively,the second primer sequence may be based upon sequences derived from thecloning vector. For example, the skilled artisan can follow the RACEprotocol (Frohman et al. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:8998-9002)to generate cDNAs by using PCR to amplify copies of the region between asingle point in the transcript and the 3′ or 5′ end. Primers oriented inthe 3′ and 5′ directions can be designed from the instant sequences.Using commercially available 3′ RACE or 5′ RACE systems (BRL), specific3′ or 5′ cDNA fragments can be isolated (Ohara et al. (1989) Proc. Nat.Acad. Sci. USA 86:5673-5677; Loh et al. (1989) Science 243:217-220).Products generated by the 3′ and 5′ RACE procedures can be combined togenerate full-length cDNAs (Frohman and Martin (1989) Techniques 1:165).Consequently, a polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence of atleast one of 60 (preferably one of at least 40, most preferably one ofat least 30) contiguous nucleotides derived from a nucleotide sequenceselected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs:1, 3, 5, and 7 and thecomplement of such nucleotide sequences may be used in such methods toobtain a nucleic acid fragment encoding a substantial portion of anamino acid sequence of a polypeptide.

The present invention relates to a method of obtaining a nucleic acidfragment encoding a substantial portion of a RAD51 polypeptide,preferably a substantial portion of a plant RAD51 polypeptide,comprising the steps of: synthesizing an oligonucleotide primercomprising a nucleotide sequence of at least one of 60 (preferably atleast one of 40, most preferably at least one of 30) contiguousnucleotides derived from a nucleotide sequence selected from the groupconsisting of SEQ ID NOs:3, 5, and 7, and the complement of suchnucleotide sequences, and amplifying a nucleic acid fragment (preferablya cDNA inserted in a cloning vector) using the oligonucleotide primer.The amplified nucleic acid fragment preferably will encode a substantialportion of a RAD51 polypeptide.

Availability of the instant nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequencesfacilitates immunological screening of cDNA expression libraries.Synthetic peptides representing substantial portions of the instantamino acid sequences may be synthesized. These peptides can be used toimmunize animals to produce polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies withspecificity for peptides or proteins comprising the amino acidsequences. These antibodies can be then be used to screen cDNAexpression libraries to isolate full-length cDNA clones of interest(Lerner (1984) Adv. Immunol. 36:1-34; Maniatis).

In another embodiment, this invention concerns viruses and host cellscomprising either the chimeric genes of the invention as describedherein or an isolated polynucleotide of the invention as describedherein. Examples of host cells which can be used to practice theinvention include, but are not limited to, yeast, bacteria, and plants.

As was noted above, the nucleic acid fragments of the instant inventionmay be used to create transgenic plants in which the disclosedpolypeptides are present at higher or lower levels than normal or incell types or developmental stages in which they are not normally found.This would have the effect of altering the level of recombination inthose cells.

Overexpression of the proteins of the instant invention may beaccomplished by first constructing a chimeric gene in which the codingregion is operably linked to a promoter capable of directing expressionof a gene in the desired tissues at the desired stage of development.The chimeric gene may comprise promoter sequences and translation leadersequences derived from the same genes. 3′ Non-coding sequences encodingtranscription termination signals may also be provided. The instantchimeric gene may also comprise one or more introns in order tofacilitate gene expression.

Plasmid vectors comprising the instant isolated polynucleotide (orchimeric gene) may be constructed. The choice of plasmid vector isdependent upon the method that will be used to transform host plants.The skilled artisan is well aware of the genetic elements that must bepresent on the plasmid vector in order to successfully transform, selectand propagate host cells containing the chimeric gene. The skilledartisan will also recognize that different independent transformationevents will result in different levels and patterns of expression (Joneset al. (1985) EMBO J. 4:2411-2418; De Almeida et al. (1989) Mol. Gen.Genetics 218:78-86), and thus that multiple events must be screened inorder to obtain lines displaying the desired expression level andpattern. Such screening may be accomplished by Southern analysis of DNA,Northern analysis of mRNA expression, Western analysis of proteinexpression, or phenotypic analysis.

For some applications it may be useful to direct the instantpolypeptides to different cellular compartments, or to facilitatesecretion from the cell. It is thus envisioned that the chimeric genedescribed above may be further supplemented by directing the codingsequence to encode the instant polypeptides with appropriateintracellular targeting sequences such as transit sequences (Keegstra(1989) Cell 56:247-253), signal sequences or sequences encodingendoplasmic reticulum localization (Chrispeels (1991) Ann. Rev. PlantPhys. Plant Mol. Biol. 42:21-53), or nuclear localization signals(Raikhel (1992) Plant Phys. 100:1627-1632) with or without removingtargeting sequences that are already present. While the references citedgive examples of each of these, the list is not exhaustive and moretargeting signals of use may be discovered in the future.

It may also be desirable to reduce or eliminate expression of genesencoding the instant polypeptides in plants for some applications. Inorder to accomplish this, a chimeric gene designed for co-suppression ofthe instant polypeptide can be constructed by linking a gene or genefragment encoding that polypeptide to plant promoter sequences.Alternatively, a chimeric gene designed to express antisense RNA for allor part of the instant nucleic acid fragment can be constructed bylinking the gene or gene fragment in reverse orientation to plantpromoter sequences. Either the co-suppression or antisense chimericgenes could be introduced into plants via transformation whereinexpression of the corresponding endogenous genes are reduced oreliminated.

Molecular genetic solutions to the generation of plants with alteredgene expression have a decided advantage over more traditional plantbreeding approaches. Changes in plant phenotypes can be produced byspecifically inhibiting expression of one or more genes by antisenseinhibition or cosuppression (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,190,931, 5,107,065 and5,283,323). An antisense or cosuppression construct would act as adominant negative regulator of gene activity. While conventionalmutations can yield negative regulation of gene activity these effectsare most likely recessive. The dominant negative regulation availablewith a transgenic approach may be advantageous from a breedingperspective. In addition, the ability to restrict the expression of aspecific phenotype to the reproductive tissues of the plant by the useof tissue specific promoters may confer agronomic advantages relative toconventional mutations which may have an effect in all tissues in whicha mutant gene is ordinarily expressed.

The person skilled in the art will know that special considerations areassociated with the use of antisense or cosuppression technologies inorder to reduce expression of particular genes. For example, the properlevel of expression of sense or antisense genes may require the use ofdifferent chimeric genes utilizing different regulatory elements knownto the skilled artisan. Once transgenic plants are obtained by one ofthe methods described above, it will be necessary to screen individualtransgenics for those that most effectively display the desiredphenotype. Accordingly, the skilled artisan will develop methods forscreening large numbers of transformants. The nature of these screenswill generally be chosen on practical grounds. For example, one canscreen by looking for changes in gene expression by using antibodiesspecific for the protein encoded by the gene being suppressed, or onecould establish assays that specifically measure enzyme activity. Apreferred method will be one which allows large numbers of samples to beprocessed rapidly, since it will be expected that a large number oftransformants will be negative for the desired phenotype.

In another embodiment, the present invention concerns a polypeptideselected from the group consisting of: (a) a polypeptide of at least 50amino acids having at least 80% identity based on the Clustal method ofalignment when compared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:6; (b) apolypeptide of at least 100 amino acids having at least 80% identitybased on the Clustal method of alignment when compared to a polypeptideof SEQ ID NO:2; (c) a polypeptide of at least 250 amino acids having atleast 95% identity based on the Clustal method of alignment whencompared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:4; and (d) a polypeptide of atleast 340 amino acids having at least 95% identity based on the Clustalmethod of alignment when compared to a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:8.

The instant polypeptides (or portions thereof) may be produced inheterologous host cells, particularly in the cells of microbial hosts,and can be used to prepare antibodies to the proteins by methods wellknown to those skilled in the art. The antibodies are useful fordetecting the polypeptides of the instant invention in situ in cells orin vitro in cell extracts. Preferred heterologous host cells forproduction of the instant polypeptides are microbial hosts. Microbialexpression systems and expression vectors containing regulatorysequences that direct high level expression of foreign proteins are wellknown to those skilled in the art. Any of these could be used toconstruct a chimeric gene for production of the instant polypeptides.This chimeric gene could then be introduced into appropriatemicroorganisms via transformation to provide high level expression ofthe encoded recombination protein. An example of a vector for high levelexpression of the instant polypeptides in a bacterial host is provided(Example 6).

All or a substantial portion of the polynucleotides of the instantinvention may also be used as probes for genetically and physicallymapping the genes that they are a part of, and used as markers fortraits linked to those genes. Such information may be useful in plantbreeding in order to develop lines with desired phenotypes. For example,the instant nucleic acid fragments may be used as restriction fragmentlength polymorphism (RFLP) markers. Southern blots (Maniatis) ofrestriction-digested plant genomic DNA may be probed with the nucleicacid fragments of the instant invention. The resulting banding patternsmay then be subjected to genetic analyses using computer programs suchas MapMaker (Lander et al. (1987) Genomics 1:174-181) in order toconstruct a genetic map. In addition, the nucleic acid fragments of theinstant invention may be used to probe Southern blots containingrestriction endonuclease-treated genomic DNAs of a set of individualsrepresenting parent and progeny of a defined genetic cross. Segregationof the DNA polymorphisms is noted and used to calculate the position ofthe instant nucleic acid sequence in the genetic map previously obtainedusing this population (Botstein et al. (1980) Am. J. Hum. Genet.32:314-331).

The production and use of plant gene-derived probes for use in geneticmapping is described in Bernatzky and Tanksley (1986) Plant Mol. Biol.Reporter 4:37-41. Numerous publications describe genetic mapping ofspecific cDNA clones using the methodology outlined above or variationsthereof. For example, F2 intercross populations, backcross populations,randomly mated populations, near isogenic lines, and other sets ofindividuals may be used for mapping. Such methodologies are well knownto those skilled in the art.

Nucleic acid probes derived from the instant nucleic acid sequences mayalso be used for physical mapping (i.e., placement of sequences onphysical maps; see Hoheisel et al. In: Nonmammalian Genomic Analysis: APractical Guide, Academic press 1996, pp. 319-346, and references citedtherein).

In another embodiment, nucleic acid probes derived from the instantnucleic acid sequences may be used in direct fluorescence in situhybridization (FISH) mapping (Trask (1991) Trends Genet. 7:149-154).Although current methods of FISH mapping favor use of large clones(several to several hundred KB; see Laan et al. (1995) Genome Res.5:13-20), improvements in sensitivity may allow performance of FISHmapping using shorter probes.

A variety of nucleic acid amplification-based methods of genetic andphysical mapping may be carried out using the instant nucleic acidsequences. Examples include allele-specific amplification (Kazazian(1989) J. Lab. Clin. Med 11:95-96), polymorphism of PCR-amplifiedfragments (CAPS; Sheffield et al. (1993) Genomics 16:325-332),allele-specific ligation (Landegren et al. (1988) Science241:1077-1080), nucleotide extension reactions (Sokolov (1990) NucleicAcid Res. 18:3671), Radiation Hybrid Mapping (Walter et al. (1997) Nat.Genet. 7:22-28) and Happy Mapping (Dear and Cook (1989) Nucleic AcidRes. 17:6795-6807). For these methods, the sequence of a nucleic acidfragment is used to design and produce primer pairs for use in theamplification reaction or in primer extension reactions. The design ofsuch primers is well known to those skilled in the art. In methodsemploying PCR-based genetic mapping, it may be necessary to identify DNAsequence differences between the parents of the mapping cross in theregion corresponding to the instant nucleic acid sequence. This,however, is generally not necessary for mapping methods.

Loss of function mutant phenotypes may be identified for the instantcDNA clones either by targeted gene disruption protocols or byidentifying specific mutants for these genes contained in a maizepopulation carrying mutations in all possible genes (Ballinger andBenzer (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad Sci USA 86:9402-9406; Koes et al. (1995)Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 92:8149-8153; Bensen et al. (1995) Plant Cell7:75-84). The latter approach may be accomplished in two ways. First,short segments of the instant nucleic acid fragments may be used inpolymerase chain reaction protocols in conjunction with a mutation tagsequence primer on DNAs prepared from a population of plants in whichMutator transposons or some other mutation-causing DNA element has beenintroduced (see Bensen, supra). The amplification of a specific DNAfragment with these primers indicates the insertion of the mutation tagelement in or near the plant gene encoding the instant polypeptide.Alternatively, the instant nucleic acid fragment may be used as ahybridization probe against PCR amplification products generated fromthe mutation population using the mutation tag sequence primer inconjunction with an arbitrary genomic site primer, such as that for arestriction enzyme site-anchored synthetic adaptor. With either method,a plant containing a mutation in the endogenous gene encoding theinstant polypeptide can be identified and obtained. This mutant plantcan then be used to determine or confirm the natural function of theinstant polypeptides disclosed herein.

EXAMPLES

The present invention is further defined in the following Examples, inwhich parts and percentages are by weight and degrees are Celsius,unless otherwise stated. It should be understood that these Examples,while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given byway of illustration only. From the above discussion and these Examples,one skilled in the art can ascertain the essential characteristics ofthis invention, and without departing from the spirit and scope thereof,can make various changes and modifications of the invention to adapt itto various usages and conditions. Thus, various modifications of theinvention in addition to those shown and described herein will beapparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description.Such modifications are also intended to fall within the scope of theappended claims.

The disclosure of each reference set forth herein is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

EXAMPLE 1 Composition of cDNA Libraries, Isolation and Sequencing ofcDNA Clones

cDNA libraries representing mRNAs from various soybean (Glycine ma) andwheat (Triticum aestivum) tissues were prepared. The characteristics ofthe libraries are described below.

TABLE 2 cDNA Libraries from Soybean and Wheat Library Tissue Clone ssmSoybean Shoot Meristem ssm.pk0068.g1 wkm1c Wheat Kernel Malted 55 Hoursat 22° C. wkm1c.pk0003.b8

cDNA libraries may be prepared by any one of many methods available. Forexample, the cDNAs may be introduced into plasmid vectors by firstpreparing the cDNA libraries in Uni-ZAP™ XR vectors according to themanufacturer's protocol (Stratagene Cloning Systems, La Jolla, Calif.).The Uni-ZAP™ XR libraries are converted into plasmid libraries accordingto the protocol provided by Stratagene. Upon conversion, cDNA insertswill be contained in the plasmid vector pBluescript. In addition, thecDNAs may be introduced directly into precut Bluescript II SK(+) vectors(Stratagene) using T4 DNA ligase (New England Biolabs), followed bytransfection into DH10B cells according to the manufacturer's protocol(GIBCO BRL Products). Once the cDNA inserts are in plasmid vectors,plasmid DNAs are prepared from randomly picked bacterial coloniescontaining recombinant pBluescript plasmids, or the insert cDNAsequences are amplified via polymerase chain reaction using primersspecific for vector sequences flanking the inserted cDNA sequences.Amplified insert DNAs or plasmid DNAs are sequenced in dye-primersequencing reactions to generate partial cDNA sequences (expressedsequence tags or “ESTs”; see Adams et al., (1991) Science252:1651-1656). The resulting ESTs are analyzed using a Perkin ElmerModel 377 fluorescent sequencer.

EXAMPLE 2 Identification of cDNA Clones

cDNA clones encoding recombination protein were identified by conductingBLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool; Altschul et al. (1993) J. Mol.Biol. 215:403-410 searches for similarity to sequences contained in theBLAST “nr” database (comprising all non-redundant GenBank CDStranslations, sequences derived from the 3-dimensional structureBrookhaven Protein Data Bank, the last major release of the SWISS-PROTprotein sequence database, EMBL, and DDBJ databases). The cDNA sequencesobtained in Example 1 were analyzed for similarity to all publiclyavailable DNA sequences contained in the “nr” database using the BLASTNalgorithm provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information(NCBI). The DNA sequences were translated in all reading frames andcompared for similarity to all publicly available protein sequencescontained in the “nr” database using the BLASTX algorithm (Gish andStates (1993) Nat. Genet. 3:266-272) provided by the NCBI. Forconvenience, the P-value (probability) of observing a match of a cDNAsequence to a sequence contained in the searched databases merely bychance as calculated by BLAST are reported herein as “pLog” values,which represent the negative of the logarithm of the reported P-value.Accordingly, the greater the pLog value, the greater the likelihood thatthe cDNA sequence and the BLAST “hit” represent homologous proteins.

EXAMPLE 3 Characterization of cDNA Clones Encoding RAD51 Protein

The BLASTX search using the EST sequences from clones ssm.pk0068.g1 andwkm1c.pkOOO3.b8 revealed similarity of the proteins encoded by the cDNAsto RAD51 protein from Arabidopsis thaliana (NCBI Gene Identifier No.1706947). The BLAST results for each of these sequences are shown inTable 3:

TABLE 3 BLAST Results for Clones Encoding Polypeptides Homologous toRAD51 Protein BLAST pLog Score Clone 1706947 ssm.pk0068.g1 58.70wkm1c.pk0003.b8 16.52

The sequence of a substantial portion of the cDNA insert from clonessm.pk0068.g1 is shown in SEQ ID NO:1; the deduced amino acid sequenceof this substantial portion of the cDNA is shown in SEQ ID NO:2. Thesequence of a substantial portion of the cDNA insert from clonewkmlc.pk0003.b8 is shown in SEQ ID NO:5; the deduced amino acid sequenceof this substantial portion of the cDNA is shown in SEQ ID NO:6. BLASTscores and probabilities indicate that the instant nucleic acidfragments encode substantial portions of corn, soybean and wheat RAD51proteins. A corn RAD51 sequence has been described previously (PCTpublished Patent Application No. WO 99/41394-A1).

The BLASTX search using the sequences from clones listed in Table 4revealed similarity of the polypeptides encoded by the cDNAs to RAD51from Arabidopsis thaliana (NCBI GenBank Identifier (GI) No. 1706947; SEQID NO:9) and Zea mays (NCBI GenBank Identifier (01) No. 4886752; SEQ IDNO:10). Shown in Table 4 are the BLAST results for individual ESTs(“EST”), the sequences of the entire cDNA inserts comprising theindicated cDNA clones (“FIS”), contigs assembled from two or more ESTs(“Contig”), contigs assembled from an FIS and one or more ESTs(“Contig*”), or sequences encoding the entire protein derived from anFIS, a contig, or an FIS and PCR (“CGS”):

TABLE 4 BLAST Results for Sequences Encoding Polypeptides Homologous toRAD51 BLAST Results NCBI GenBank Identifier pLog Clone Status (GI) No.Score ssm.pk0068.g1(FIS) CGS 1706947 173.00 wkm1c.pk0003.b8(FIS) CGS4886752 179.00

FIGS. 1A-1B present an alignment of the amino acid sequences set forthin SEQ ID NOs: 4 and 8, the Arabidopsis thaliana sequence (NCBI GenBankIdentifier (GI) No. 1706947; SEQ ID NO:9) and the Zea mays sequence(NCBI GenBank Identifier (GI) No. 4886752; SEQ ID NO:10). The data inTable 5 represents a calculation of the percent identity of the aminoacid sequences set forth in SEQ ID NOs: 4 and 8, the Arabidopsisthaliana sequence (NCBI GenBank Identifier (GI) No. 1706947; SEQ IDNO:9) and the Zea mays sequence (NCBI GenBank Identifier (GI) No.4886752; SEQ ID NO:10).

TABLE 5 Percent Identity of Amino Acid Sequences Deduced From theNucleotide Sequences of cDNA Clones Encoding Polypeptides Homologous toRAD51 Percent Identity to SEQ ID NO. SEQ ID NO:9 SEQ ID NO:10 4 87.485.6 8 85.4 89.7

Sequence alignments and percent identity calculations were performedusing the Megalign program of the LASERGENE bioinformatics computingsuite (DNASTAR Inc., Madison, Wis.). Multiple alignment of the sequenceswas performed using the Clustal method of alignment (Higgins and Sharp(1989) CABIOS. 5:151-153) with the default parameters (GAP PENALTY=10,GAP LENGTH PENALTY=10). Default parameters for pairwise alignments usingthe Clustal method were KTUPLE 1, GAP PENALTY=3, WINDOW=5 and DIAGONALSSAVED=5. Sequence alignments, BLAST scores and probabilities indicatethat the nucleic acid fragments comprising the instant cDNA clonesencode entire RAD51 protein.

EXAMPLE 4 Expression of Chimeric Genes in Monocot Cells

A chimeric gene comprising a cDNA encoding the instant polypeptide insense orientation with respect to the maize 27 kD zein promoter that islocated 5′ to the cDNA fragment, and the 10 kD zein 3′ end that islocated 3′ to the cDNA fragment, can be constructed. The cDNA fragmentof this gene may be generated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of thecDNA clone using appropriate oligonucleotide primers. Cloning sites(NcoI or SmaI) can be incorporated into the oligonucleotides to provideproper orientation of the DNA fragment when inserted into the digestedvector pML103 as described below. Amplification is then performed in astandard PCR. The amplified DNA is then digested with restrictionenzymes NcoI and SmaI and fractionated on an agarose gel. Theappropriate band can be isolated from the gel and combined with a 4.9 kbNcoI-SmaI fragment of the plasmid pML103. Plasmid pML103 has beendeposited under the terms of the Budapest Treaty at ATCC (American TypeCulture Collection, 10801 University Blvd., Manassas, Va. 20110-2209),and bears accession number ATCC 97366. The DNA segment from pML103contains a 1.05 kb SalI-NcoI promoter fragment of the maize 27 kD zeingene and a 0.96 kb SmaI-SalI fragment from the 3′ end of the maize 10 kDzein gene in the vector pGem9Zf(+) (Promega). Vector and insert DNA canbe ligated at 15° C. overnight, essentially as described (Maniatis). Theligated DNA may then be used to transform E. coli XL1-Blue (EpicurianColi XL-1 Blue™; Stratagene). Bacterial transformants can be screened byrestriction enzyme digestion of plasmid DNA and limited nucleotidesequence analysis using the dideoxy chain termination method (Sequenase™DNA Sequencing Kit; U.S. Biochemical). The resulting plasmid constructwould comprise a chimeric gene encoding, in the 5′ to 3′ direction, themaize 27 kD zein promoter, a cDNA fragment encoding the instantpolypeptide, and the 10 kD zein 3′ region.

The chimeric gene described above can then be introduced into corn cellsby the following procedure. Immature corn embryos can be dissected fromdeveloping caryopses derived from crosses of the inbred corn lines H99and LH132. The embryos are isolated 10 to 11 days after pollination whenthey are 1.0 to 1.5 mm long. The embryos are then placed with theaxis-side facing down and in contact with agarose-solidified N6 medium(Chu et al. (1975) Sci. Sin. Peking 18:659668). The embryos are kept inthe dark at 27° C. Friable embryogenic callus consisting ofundifferentiated masses of cells with somatic proembryoids and embryoidsborne on suspensor structures proliferates from the scutellum of theseimmature embryos. The embryogenic callus isolated from the primaryexplant can be cultured on N6 medium and sub-cultured on this mediumevery 2 to 3 weeks.

The plasmid, p35S/Ac (obtained from Dr. Peter Eckes, Hoechst Ag,Frankfurt, Germany) may be used in transformation experiments in orderto provide for a selectable marker. This plasmid contains the Pat gene(see European Patent Publication 0 242 236) which encodesphosphinothricin acetyl transferase (PAT). The enzyme PAT confersresistance to herbicidal glutamine synthetase inhibitors such asphosphinothricin. The pat gene in p35S/Ac is under the control of the35S promoter from Cauliflower Mosaic Virus (Odell et al. (1985) Nature313:810-812) and the 3′ region of the nopaline synthase gene from theT-DNA of the Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

The particle bombardment method (Klein et al. (1987) Nature 327:70-73)may be used to transfer genes to the callus culture cells. According tothis method, gold particles (1 μm in diameter) are coated with DNA usingthe following technique. Ten μg of plasmid DNAs are added to 50 μL of asuspension of gold particles (60 mg per mL). Calcium chloride (50 μL ofa 2.5 M solution) and spermidine free base (20 μL of a 1.0 M solution)are added to the particles. The suspension is vortexed during theaddition of these solutions. After 10 minutes, the tubes are brieflycentrifuged (5 sec at 15,000 rpm) and the supernatant removed. Theparticles are resuspended in 200 μL of absolute ethanol, centrifugedagain and the supernatant removed. The ethanol rinse is performed againand the particles resuspended in a final volume of 30 μL of ethanol. Analiquot (5 μL) of the DNA-coated gold particles can be placed in thecenter of a Kapton™ flying disc (Bio-Rad Labs). The particles are thenaccelerated into the corn tissue with a Biolistic™ PDS-1000/He (Bio-RadInstruments, Hercules Calif.), using a helium pressure of 1000 psi, agap distance of 0.5 cm and a flying distance of 1.0 cm.

For bombardment, the embryogenic tissue is placed on filter paper overagarose-solidified N6 medium. The tissue is arranged as a thin lawn andcovered a circular area of about 5 cm in diameter. The petri dishcontaining the tissue can be placed in the chamber of the PDS-1000/Heapproximately 8 cm from the stopping screen. The air in the chamber isthen evacuated to a vacuum of 28 inches of Hg. The macrocarrier isaccelerated with a helium shock wave using a rupture membrane thatbursts when the He pressure in the shock tube reaches 1000 psi.

Seven days after bombardment the tissue can be transferred to N6 mediumthat contains gluphosinate (2 mg per liter) and lacks casein or proline.The tissue continues to grow slowly on this medium. After an additional2 weeks the tissue can be transferred to fresh N6 medium containinggluphosinate. After 6 weeks, areas of about 1 cm in diameter of activelygrowing callus can be identified on some of the plates containing theglufosinate-supplemented medium. These calli may continue to grow whensub-cultured on the selective medium.

Plants can be regenerated from the transgenic callus by firsttransferring clusters of tissue to N6 medium supplemented with 0.2 mgper liter of 2,4-D. After two weeks the tissue can be transferred toregeneration medium (Fromm et al. (1990) Bio/Technology 8:833-839).

EXAMPLE 5 Expression of Chimeric Genes in Dicot Cells

A seed-specific construct composed of the promoter and transcriptionterminator from the gene encoding the 0 subunit of the seed storageprotein phaseolin from the bean Phaseolus vulgaris (Doyle et al. (1986)J. Biol. Chem. 261:9228-9238) can be used for expression of the instantpolypeptides in transformed soybean. The phaseolin construct includesabout 500 nucleotides upstream (5′) from the translation initiationcodon and about 1650 nucleotides downstream (3′) from the translationstop codon of phaseolin. Between the 5′ and 3′ regions are the uniquerestriction endonuclease sites Nco I (which includes the ATG translationinitiation codon), Sma I, Kpn I and Xba I. The entire construct isflanked by Hind III sites.

The cDNA fragment of this gene may be generated by polymerase chainreaction (PCR) of the cDNA clone using appropriate oligonucleotideprimers. Cloning sites can be incorporated into the oligonucleotides toprovide proper orientation of the DNA fragment when inserted into theexpression vector. Amplification is then performed as described above,and the isolated fragment is inserted into a pUC 18 vector carrying theseed construct.

Soybean embryos may then be transformed with the expression vectorcomprising sequences encoding the instant polypeptides. To inducesomatic embryos, cotyledons, 3-5 mm in length dissected from surfacesterilized, immature seeds of the soybean cultivar A2872, can becultured in the light or dark at 26° C. on an appropriate agar mediumfor 6-10 weeks. Somatic embryos which produce secondary embryos are thenexcised and placed into a suitable liquid medium. After repeatedselection for clusters of somatic embryos which multiplied as early,globular staged embryos, the suspensions are maintained as describedbelow.

Soybean embryogenic suspension cultures can be maintained in 35 mLliquid media on a rotary shaker, 150 rpm, at 26° C. with florescentlights on a 16:8 hour day/night schedule. Cultures are subcultured everytwo weeks by inoculating approximately 35 mg of tissue into 35 mL ofliquid medium.

Soybean embryogenic suspension cultures may then be transformed by themethod of particle gun bombardment (Klein et al. (1987) Nature (London)327:70-73, U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,050). A DuPont Biolistic™ PDS 1000/HEinstrument (helium retrofit) can be used for these transformations.

A selectable marker gene which can be used to facilitate soybeantransformation is a chimeric gene composed of the 35S promoter fromCauliflower Mosaic Virus (Odell et al. (1985) Nature 313:810-812), thehygromycin phosphotransferase gene from plasmid pJR225 (from E. coli;Gritz et al.(1983) Gene 25:179-188) and the 3′ region of the nopalinesynthase gene from the T-DNA of the Ti plasmid of Agrobacteriumtumefaciens. The seed construct comprising the phaseolin 5′ region, thefragment encoding the instant polypeptide and the phaseolin 3′ regioncan be isolated as a restriction fragment. This fragment can then beinserted into a unique restriction site of the vector carrying themarker gene.

To 50 μL of a 60 mg/mL 1 μm gold particle suspension is added (inorder): 5 μL DNA (1 μg/μL), 20 μL spermidine (0.1 M), and 50 μL CaCl₂(2.5 M). The particle preparation is then agitated for three minutes,spun in a microfuge for 10 seconds and the supernatant removed. TheDNA-coated particles are then washed once in 400 μL 70% ethanol andresuspended in 40 μL of anhydrous ethanol. The DNA/particle suspensioncan be sonicated three times for one second each. Five μL of theDNA-coated gold particles are then loaded on each macro carrier disk.

Approximately 300-400 mg of a two-week-old suspension culture is placedin an empty 60×15 mm petri dish and the residual liquid removed from thetissue with a pipette. For each transformation experiment, approximately5-10 plates of tissue are normally bombarded. Membrane rupture pressureis set at 1100 psi and the chamber is evacuated to a vacuum of 28 inchesof mercury. The tissue is placed approximately 3.5 inches away from theretaining screen and bombarded three times. Following bombardment, thetissue can be divided in half and placed back into liquid and culturedas described above.

Five to seven days post bombardment, the liquid media may be exchangedwith fresh media, and eleven to twelve days post bombardment with freshmedia containing 50 mg/mL hygromycin. This selective media can berefreshed weekly. Seven to eight weeks post bombardment, green,transformed tissue may be observed growing from untransformed, necroticembryogenic clusters. Isolated green tissue is removed and inoculatedinto individual flasks to generate new, clonally propagated, transformedembryogenic suspension cultures. Each new line may be treated as anindependent transformation event. These suspensions can then besubcultured and maintained as clusters of immature embryos orregenerated into whole plants by maturation and germination ofindividual somatic embryos.

EXAMPLE 6 Expression of Chimeric Genes in Microbial Cells

The cDNAs encoding the instant polypeptides can be inserted into the T7E. coli expression vector pBT430. This vector is a derivative of pET-3a(Rosenberg et al. (1987) Gene 56:125-135) which employs thebacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase/T7 promoter system. Plasmid pBT430 wasconstructed by first destroying the EcoR I and Hind III sites in pET-3aat their original positions. An oligonucleotide adaptor containing EcoRI and Hind III sites was inserted at the BamH I site of pET-3a. Thiscreated pET-3aM with additional unique cloning sites for insertion ofgenes into the expression vector. Then, the Nde I site at the positionof translation initiation was converted to an Nco I site usingoligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis. The DNA sequence of pET-3aM inthis region, 5′-CATATGG, was converted to 5′-CCCATGG in pBT430.

Plasmid DNA containing a cDNA may be appropriately digested to release anucleic acid fragment encoding the protein. This fragment may then bepurified on a 1% NuSieve GTG™ low melting agarose gel (FMC). Buffer andagarose contain 10 μg/mL ethidium bromide for visualization of the DNAfragment. The fragment can then be purified from the agarose gel bydigestion with GELase™ (Epicentre Technologies) according to themanufacturer's instructions, ethanol precipitated, dried and resuspendedin 20 mL of water. Appropriate oligonucleotide adapters may be ligatedto the fragment using T4 DNA ligase (New England Biolabs, Beverly,Mass.). The fragment containing the ligated adapters can be purifiedfrom the excess adapters using low melting agarose as described above.The vector pBT430 is digested, dephosphorylated with alkalinephosphatase (NEB) and deproteinized with phenol/chloroform as describedabove. The prepared vector pBT430 and fragment can then be ligated at16° C. for 15 hours followed by transformation into DH5 electrocompetentcells (GIBCO BRL). Transformants can be selected on agar platescontaining LB media and 100 μg/mL ampicillin. Transformants containingthe gene encoding the instant polypeptide are then screened for thecorrect orientation with respect to the T7 promoter by restrictionenzyme analysis.

For high level expression, a plasmid clone with the cDNA insert in thecorrect orientation relative to the T7 promoter can be transformed intoE. coli strain BL21(DE3) (Studier et al. (1986) J. Mol. Biol.189:113-130). Cultures are grown in LB medium containing ampicillin (100mg/L) at 25° C. At an optical density at 600 nm of approximately 1, IPTG(isopropylthio-β-galactoside, the inducer) can be added to a finalconcentration of 0.4 mM and incubation can be continued for 3 h at 25°.Cells are then harvested by centrifugation and re-suspended in 50 μL of50 mM Tris-HCl at pH 8.0 containing 0.1 mM DTT and 0.2 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. A small amount of 1 mm glass beads can be addedand the mixture sonicated 3 times for about 5 seconds each time with amicroprobe sonicator. The mixture is centrifuged and the proteinconcentration of the supernatant determined. One μg of protein from thesoluble fraction of the culture can be separated by SDS-polyacrylamidegel electrophoresis. Gels can be observed for protein bands migrating atthe expected molecular weight.

EXAMPLE 7 Assaying Recombination Protein Activity

The polypeptides described herein may be produced using any number ofmethods known to those skilled in the art. Such methods include, but arenot limited to, expression in bacteria as described in Example 6, orexpression in eukaryotic cell culture, in planta, and using viralexpression systems in suitably infected organisms or cell lines. Theinstant polypeptides may be expressed either as mature forms of theproteins as observed in vivo or as fusion proteins by covalentattachment to a variety of enzymes, proteins or affinity tags. Commonfusion protein partners include glutathione S-transferase (“GST”),thioredoxin (“Trx”), maltose binding protein, and C- and/or N-terminalhexahistidine polypeptide (“(His)₆”). The fusion proteins may beengineered with a protease recognition site at the fusion point so thatfusion partners can be separated by protease digestion to yield intactmature enzyme. Examples of such proteases include thrombin, enterokinaseand factor Xa. However, any protease can be used which specificallycleaves the peptide connecting the fusion protein and the enzyme.

Purification of the instant polypeptides, if desired, may utilize anynumber of separation technologies familiar to those skilled in the artof protein purification. Examples of such methods include, but are notlimited to, homogenization, filtration, centrifugation, heatdenaturation, ammonium sulfate precipitation, desalting, pHprecipitation, ion exchange chromatography, hydrophobic interactionchromatography and affinity chromatography, wherein the affinity ligandrepresents a substrate, substrate analog or inhibitor. When the instantpolypeptides are expressed as fusion proteins, the purification protocolmay include the use of an affinity resin which is specific for thefusion protein tag attached to the expressed enzyme or an affinity resincontaining ligands which are specific for the enzyme. For example, theinstant polypeptides may be expressed as a fusion protein coupled to theC-terminus of thioredoxin. In addition, a (His)₆ peptide may beengineered into the N-terminus of the fused thioredoxin moiety to affordadditional opportunities for affinity purification. Other suitableaffinity resins could be synthesized by linking the appropriate ligandsto any suitable resin such as Sepharose-4B. In an alternate embodiment,a thioredoxin fusion protein may be eluted using dithiothreitol;however, elution may be accomplished using other reagents which interactto displace the thioredoxin from the resin. These reagents includeβ-mercaptoethanol or other reduced thiol. The eluted fusion protein maybe subjected to further purification by traditional means as statedabove, if desired. Proteolytic cleavage of the thioredoxin fusionprotein and the enzyme may be accomplished after the fusion protein ispurified or while the protein is still bound to the ThioBond™ affinityresin or other resin.

Crude, partially purified or purified enzyme, either alone or as afusion protein, may be utilized in assays to verify over- orunderexpression of recombination proteins disclosed herein in functionalform in transgenic plants and transformed bacterial cells. Assays may beconducted under well known experimental conditions which permit optimalenzymatic activity. For example, assays for RAD51 are presented by Sung,P., (1994) Science 265:1241-1243

1. An isolated polynucleotide comprising: (a) a nucleotide sequenceencoding a polypeptide with RAD51 recombinase activity, wherein thepolypeptide has an amino acid sequence of at least 95% sequenceidentity, based on the Clustal V method of alignment, when compared toone of SEQ ID NO:8, or (b) a complement of the nucleotide sequence,wherein the complement and the nucleotide sequence consist of the samenumber of nucleotides and are 100% complementary.
 2. The polynucleotideof claim 1, wherein the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide comprisesone of SEQ ID NO:8.
 3. The polynucleotide of claim 1, wherein thenucleotide sequence comprises one of SEQ ID NO:7.
 4. A vector comprisingthe polynucleotide of claim
 1. 5. A recombinant DNA construct comprisingthe polynucleotide of claim 1 operably linked to at least one regulatorysequence.
 6. A method for transforming a cell, comprising transforming acell with the polynucleotide of claim
 1. 7. A cell comprising therecombinant DNA construct of claim
 5. 8. A method for producing a plantcomprising transforming a plant cell with the polynucleotide of claim 1and regenerating a plant from the transformed plant cell.
 9. A plantcomprising the recombinant DNA construct of claim
 5. 10. A seedcomprising the recombinant DNA construct of claim 5.